Mother’s Milk Bank To Be Set Up In North Karnataka’s Vijayapura District Hospital

A mother’s milk bank is being set up in Vijayapura, North Karnataka in the paediatric ward of the District Hospital in a collaboration between the government and the private sector. Sushena Health Foundation, Hyderabad and the District Hospital are collaborating with Dr Shivananda Mastiholi, the surgeon of the District Hospital for this. A mutual agreement was signed in the presence of District Collector T Bhubalan for setting up a mother milk collection unit in the infant ward of the District Hospital, Vijayapur. The Comprehensive Lactation Management Unit-Mother Milk Bank will collect the mother’s milk as per the rules and conditions and in a prescribed procedure as per the National Health Mission rules. Mother’s milk is very helpful in reducing the mortality rate in premature babies. It will control weight gain and malnutrition in newborns without any cost. The milk thus collected is very useful for newborns. In low birth weight babies, in newborns who have undergone surgery, when the mother is not breastfeeding and due to other reasons, the mother wants to breastfeed the baby. This is to make the babies strong.

District Collector T Bhubalan, General Secretary, Sushena Health Foundation (SHF), Dr Santosh Kumar Carlity, Hyderabad, UNICEF Health Expert Dr Sridhara Ryavanki, Dr Chandu Rathoda, Dr Suresh Chavan, Dr Aneela Rathoda, Dr Sunila Rudagi, Dr Shailasree, Dr Sudhira Chavan, Dr Akki, Dr Pawan and Ramesh Rathoda and others were present at the mutual signing.

Besides, Sion Hospital, which houses Asia’s first human milk bank, has received donations from over 43,412 mothers in the last five years, providing life-saving milk to more than 10,523 newborns, according to data released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation during the ongoing National Breastfeeding Month, celebrated every year in August to promote breastfeeding and support mothers.

Similar to blood donations, human breast milk can also be donated to save the lives of countless newborns. Human milk donations play a crucial role in reducing the mortality rate of low birth weight and high-risk newborns.